Join Jon Snow beyond the Wall as the Game of Thrones cast and crew tell you all about working in Iceland in this new behind-the-scenes video.
The Making Game of Thrones production blog has uploaded this new featurette showing the work they’ve done in Iceland to create the landscape beyond the Wall:
In the video, showrunner D.B. Weiss introduces the location, while Rose Leslie (Ygritte) and Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) share their excitement about getting to film there. Mackenzie Crook (Orell) calls the landscape “otherworldly; it’s like you’re on a different planet.” Ciaran Hinds (Mance Rayder) and showrunner David Benioff also weigh in on the experience.
Daniel Minahan explains how the authenticity manifests itself: “When you see people’s breath you really see people’s breath, when you see icicles coming out of their mustaches or beards, it’s real icicles.” But before you feel too bad for the poor cast and crew made to work in those conditions, fellow director Alex Graves adds, “yes, it’s cold, but it’s so incredibly beautiful and untouched. It’s what you think it is, times 10.”
“It’s harsh weather conditions, it’s not easy to shoot here,” Kit Harington (Jon Snow) admits, “but the country is so beautiful that it makes it such a pleasure to come to.”
Benioff also explains that while it’s a lot of work and money to shoot somewhere like Iceland, “at the end of the day, we’d rather spend the money on locations than on BFX.” Because it just makes everything more real, and “makes the world seem so vast and immense, and that’s what we needed to make this show work.”
We’re left with what must be a line from the show, spoken by Mance Rayder to Jon: “When the long night comes, North of the Wall becomes the kingdom of the dead.” Now that sounds like something straight out of a season 3 trailer, doesn’t it?! Hint hint, HBO.
Game of Thrones season 3 premieres March 31!